There was excitement and apprehension in eThekwini’s Ward 101 at the weekend as political parties went on a charm offensive to woo voters ahead of a by-election on Wednesday, 13 December.

On Sunday morning, the IFP brought its campaigning heavyweights to the area to aid the electoral fortunes of its candidate, 36-year-old Mandlenkosi Ntshangase. Ntshangase’s candidature will be supported by all other Multi-Party Charter (MPC) partners, including the Democratic Alliance.

Thami Ntuli, the IFP provincial chairperson and KwaZulu-Natal South African Local Government Association (Salga) chair, expressed his confidence that the IFP would overturn the previous ANC victory and take the ward, which includes the Cato Crest informal and formal settlements, the wealthy Manor Gardens and the area north of Berea.

This is Cato Crest, where the infrastructure is struggling to accommodate the masses of people flocking to the area. (Photo:Chris Makhaye)

The sentiment was shared by Mdu Nkosi, the IFP leader in the eThekwini Municipality, who decried the conditions that the people of Cato Crest are living in due to “the incompetence and mismanagement” of the ANC.

The ANC, which is fielding Sphiwe “Luluza” Khanyile as its candidate for the by-election, held mini rallies and conducted a door-to-door campaign at the weekend. This resulted in some residents joking about the attention they were suddenly getting from political parties. One resident, a woman in her early 40s, said she had been wooed by three campaigners on a single day.

“The ANC people came in the morning; by mid-morning I opened the door to the IFP people. Then in the afternoon, I had to tell the ANC people that others from their party had been here,” she said with a wry smile.

Sizakele Cele (53) was among the ANC campaigners going door-to-door. She said she was born ANC and would die ANC. “We know there are challenges, but just because there are problems at home you don’t run away, you try and sort out the problems at home,” she said.

You don’t have to go far to see the challenges faced by the residents of Cato Manor. On almost every street corner there are huge piles of rubbish, while puddles of dirty water, the result of burst water and sewage pipes, are prevalent.

Residents complain about crime, saying that life is cheap here and people kill each other with little or no consequences.

In the affluent Manor Gardens, there was less election fever than in Cato Manor. The odd poster reminded residents of an upcoming by-election, but there were no electioneering convoys.

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Ward 101 is arguably one of the most dangerous wards in South Africa in which to be a councillor.

Councillor gunned down

Days before the November 2021 local government elections, the then councillor and firm favourite to win the ward, Siyabonga Mkhize, was fatally shot alongside Mzukisi Nyanga, an ANC supporter, while they were campaigning in the area. One of Mkhize’s bodyguards sustained serious injuries when gunmen sprayed their 4×4 bakkie with automatic fire.

Mkhize’s photo was still on the ballot during the election and he won, posthumously, with 48% for the ANC, followed by the EFF with 16%, the DA (14%) and the African Christian Democratic Party (7%). The IFP got 6% and ActionSA polled 4%.

The 2022 by-election in the ward was won by the ANC’s Mzimuni Ngiba with a reduced majority of 41%.  

Less than three months later, Ngiba was arrested and charged with killing his predecessor Mkhize. He was denied bail and is awaiting trial in prison.

ActionSA complained that Ngiba was getting a full councillor’s salary while he was in jail and not attending council meetings or serving his constituency.

When he was finally removed from the city’s payroll, ActionSA’s interim KZN leader, Zwakele Mncwango, said: “ActionSA welcomes the eThekwini Metro Municipality’s decision to approve the recommendation made by the MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs to remove Mzimuni Ngiba as ward councillor for Ward 101, after receiving his remuneration to the value of R541,681 from the municipality, despite being behind bars for 12 months on the charges of murder.”

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Musa Dlamini, an ANC PR councillor, was deployed as an acting councillor in the ward “to fill up the position while the councillor [Ngiba] was still dealing with his legal challenges”.

He told Daily Maverick he had been trying his best to deal with the myriad challenges facing the ward, which included the fact that the area and its infrastructure were not built to accommodate the thousands of people now living there, especially in Cato Crest.

“This area is attractive to many people because it is so close to the city. Some poor residents walk to the city to work. Some people are building double and triple-storey rental houses. Our infrastructure is struggling to cope.

“I’m also trying to sort out the collection of solid waste because the private company that collects here has its own challenges, which we are dealing with,” Dlamini said.

Faso Majola, an ANC leader in Cato Crest, said the ruling party was worried about the killings in the area, but expressed confidence that their candidate, Khanyile, would win the ward and would be “protected by the community”. 

“There is no resolution of the ANC that says people must go and kill each other. There is no policy of the ANC that ANC members or leaders must go out and kill a person. Whoever does that does it in his personal capacity, he is not sent by the ANC and that is a criminal matter that must be dealt with by the law,” Majola said.

‘People here are angry’

Ntshangase, the IFP candidate, was upbeat about his chances.

“I have lived in this area all my life. We have been promised so many things but our lives are becoming more unbearable. People here are angry, people want change. I believe that I can help to turn things around. There is just so much that we can achieve. But first, people have to vote for the IFP next Wednesday,” he said.

Cato Crest area is also home to Abahlali baseMjondolo’s eKhenana informal settlement, where the organisation is trying to create a socialist commune, which has put members of the organisation on a collision course with local ANC leaders. Abahlali has said that more than 20 of its activists have been murdered since 2005.

On Sunday, the gate to the commune was shut and no political parties were allowed to campaign there.

A resident of the commune, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said, “They only come to us when they want us to vote. When we are being killed, when we are being harassed, they are nowhere to be seen.”

Wayne Sussman, an independent political and elections analyst, said it would be difficult for the IFP or the EFF, which is also fielding a candidate in this by-election, to dislodge the ANC from Ward 101.

“But the ANC’s electoral performance in this ward has been declining over the years. Another factor that could work against the ANC is that these by-elections will be held in mid-December when students have already left for their homes. In the past, they swayed the ward towards the ANC. But these elections will be held in nine days’ time and within that period so many things can still change,” Sussman said. DM